A horse with a captivating history is scheduled to make his Australian debut at this Saturday’s Flemington meeting, with Unbelievable set to race for trainer Clayton Douglas.
The galloper, who has travelled extensively, will line up in the Melbourne Cup Carnival On Sale (1620m) following a career that has taken him from Ireland to Hong Kong and now to Australia.
Unbelievable, bred in the United States, is a brother to the champion colt City Of Troy, who triumphed in the Epsom Derby, Coral Eclipse Stakes, and Juddmonte International Stakes during an outstanding 2024 campaign.
Initially racing under the name Bertinelli, Unbelievable began his career with the esteemed Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, achieving success at Dundalk on his second start and adding another victory over 2000 metres at Newbury as a three-year-old.
After one more appearance in the UK, he was sold to Hong Kong interests and transferred to trainer Frankie Lor.
Following six starts in Hong Kong, where he secured two placings, the gelding was retired from racing there and shipped to Australia, initially joining the stable of Anthony and Sam Freedman.
Due to the Freedmans serving a 28-day disqualification, Unbelievable was temporarily transferred into the care of Douglas and will race under his name on Saturday.
The Freedmans returned to training earlier this week, with Jourama expected to be their first official runner back under their own name at Bairnsdale on Tuesday.
Douglas is of the opinion that Unbelievable has shown enough at the trials to suggest he could develop into a handy staying prospect.
“He started in Ireland, ended up in Hong Kong, was retired from Hong Kong and sent down here,” Douglas conveyed.
“He’s still a ‘bull’ and will probably benefit from the run at the mile on Saturday after a long time off, but he’s quite a nice horse.
“His trials have been good and at Caulfield Heath the other day, I thought he did a good job as he was out to do a little bit, and he hit the line strongly.
“First-up at the mile, in a benchmark 84, he carries a bit of weight, and he will be somewhere off the speed, but he’ll be running on and then hopefully there will be a race for him over 2000 metres second-up.”
Ethan Brown, who has recently returned from a successful riding stint in Hong Kong, will partner Unbelievable, having resumed race riding in Victoria at Geelong on Friday.
Betting markets for the race are now available through various Australian betting sites.